The parents of a young girl who passed away on Saturday are continuing to believe that she will be resurrected from the dead.
The daughter of Bethel worship leader Kalley Heiligenthal and her husband, Andrew, stopped breathing over the weekend and was subsequently pronounced dead by doctors. Since then, the Bethel worship community, who are known for their charismatic faith, have prayed ceaselessly for the youngster’s life to be restored.
Though the two-year-old, Olive, has been unresponsive for over four days now, Kalley says she is still believing for a miracle.
“Day 4 is a really good day for resurrection,” Kalley wrote on Instagram Tuesday. “All hail, make way for King Jesus! Thank you so much for joining your faith to ours, we feel your strength and radical belief. Keep declaring life over Olive Alayne with us. “It is finished” were His last words before bursting back in resurrection life, so we’re not done. It is finished, so we’re not done. This is awakening. Come alive, Olive!”
Last night, the Heiligenthals took the stage at Bethel Church for a special worship event that gave believers an opportunity to come and pray for the toddler.
“Olive, come out of that grave, come out of that grave in Jesus’ name,” the pair could be heard singing at the top of their lungs, with the congregation praying passionately for the young girl’s resurrection.
Christian musician Rita Springer took to Instagram in a bid to explain why this faith community is so committed to praying for Olive, even after her death.
“What we are asking for is supernatural. The belief for life to come into what is dead is not what many would say feels ‘normal.’ But, if you have a relationship with the God of scripture, then you have set yourself in a family of the “new normal,”” she wrote. “Call it crazy but here’s the wild thing about faith—If you get God into your veins everything that had once felt normal, starts to feel like an excuse to stay safe.”
Despite the fact Olive has yet to wake up, many in the Bethel community have continued to try and invoke the supernatural. At the weekend, famed missionary Heidi Baker made an appearance at Bethel’s Sunday service, offering her own comments on the situation.
“The world may mock, and people may think we’re a little bit crazy. But the second I stepped in here I said ‘I’m home because there are hundreds of people worshipping God right now, declaring his resurrection power,'” Baker said.
“I’m just so grateful to be a part of this.”
Janie Taylor, the wife of the CEO of Bethel Music, Joel Taylor, also declared her prayers over the youngster during one of Bethel’s recent services.
In January of last year, the Taylors’ two young children contracted an E.Coli infection which almost took their lives. The pair recovered, but only after the Bethel community got on their knees in prayer. Joel insisted that his children’s survival was nothing short of a “miracle.”
“Olive’s name means ‘awakening,'” Janie prayed. “We just call forth this awakening — that you are meant to live and not die.”
Many of those praying for Olive have cited the story in Mark’s gospel of Jesus raising a girl from the dead:
“[Jesus] took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.” — Mark 5: 40-42.
We will keep you updated on any further developments.